


Freshy vs salty

by NYWCgirl



Series: May whump 2020 [7]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Captive, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Experimentation, merman Mac, water whump 2020, ww-no.7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:47:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24052324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: Jack finds out that the head of the science team has less than noble goals and is torturing the merman.
Series: May whump 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727719
Comments: 8
Kudos: 27





	Freshy vs salty

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet is written for the seventh day of May’s month of whump. The prompt was ‘freshwater vs salt water’. Continuation of ‘Put in a tank.’

Jack still can´t believe he took this job. He suspected there was something wrong with his boss. The man had a weasel-like quality over him, but there isn´t much demand for military men with a bad case of PTSD and the money more than made up for any questions that arose. But this is not science, this is torture.

The merman, Mac (Male aquatic Creature) as the scientists named him, is slowly swimming in the tank, he isn´t curious anymore, the last couple of days have left him weary and skittish. Jack doesn´t know what Murdoc is planning today but he can hear a pump running. Murdoc has been keeping Jack away from the lab, but today he is not here so Jack sneaked his way in, he can only hope that Murdoc didn´t give the scientists instructions to keep him out. When nobody looks up from their work while he walks through the lab, he assumes Murdoc didn´t bother to inform anyway to keep him away.

Maybe they are cleaning the tank. But Mac seems distressed. He is swimming in agitation, lower in the tank. He keeps going but as time progresses, he seems to get more stressed. Now that Jack studies him, he doesn´t look good.

One of the science guys tells a technician to stop the fresh water pump. Jack look sup in horror, so that is what they are doing. No wonder Mac looks distressed. Jack knows you can´t put salt water fish in a fresh water tank. They will die, something to do with osmosis or something.

All of a sudden Mac´s distress becomes more pronounced. His eyes roll up and he goes limp, starting to float belly up. The scientist raises the alarm, pumping away the water. Jack takes off his tactical vest and takes two steps at a time until he is at the top of the stairs. Without further thinking, he dives in. The tank isn´t deep so within seconds he reaches Mac, grabbing him and swimming back up. The technicians have a net ready so Jack puts it around the unconscious boy.

‘What do we do?’

‘I don´t know.’ one the scientists calls out.

They hoist the kid to another tank and Jack is told to put on a wetsuit and diving gear so he can go in and keep the boy in motion, maybe it will help detoxing him. It is a sign how little they know about the creature that they don´t know if he is able to breath above water or needs to stay in motion like a shark. He quickly changes and jumps in the other tank, guiding the kid out of the net, he drags the kid with him, hoping the kid gets flushed with salt water again.

After what seems like forever, but couldn´t be more than half an hour, Jack can feel the returning of consciousness. The kid doesn´t fight him but Jack is not sure he is completely with them yet. However, the moment he opens his eyes and the kid realizes what is happening, he starts struggling so Jack releases him. At first he swims away and Jack lets him. Staying put. The kid studies him with big eyes.

When the kid seems a bit stabilized, Jack waves at him. Curiosity wins and he slowly swims closer to Jack. He hesitantly waves back and Jack repeats the gesture. He seems to recognize Jack, even with all the gear. Now he comes real close and Jack stays still, letting him examine him. Only the bubbles from Jack´s breathing apparatus are moving. The kid studies them and laughs. He swims upwards , gulping in air and diving down again.When he stops in front of Jack, he lets go of the air, creating a ring of air, he swims through. Jack saw dolphins do this trick before at the aquarium. The kid looks proud of himself and Jack wants to smile, but with the diving mask, he can´t. When Jack checks his oxygen supply he sees that he needs to leave the tank so he swims back up and leaves it. When he is out of the suit, he walks up to the tank and waves. Mac returns the gesture. 

Jack needs to find out what Murdoc really wants with Mac and more importantly, he needs to find a way to get this kid out of here.


End file.
